Rechten van Joodse "vluchtelingen" moeten betrokken worden bij vredesproces

 

Het is geweldig dat de Joodse vluchtelingen nu aarzelend op de agenda lijken te worden gezet, maar in tegenstelling tot de Palestijnse vluchtelingen en al hun nakomelingen zoeken ze geen recht op terugkeer.

Noah Pollak, the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, said that the Jewish right of return is actually not an issue that's part of the peace negotiations, largely due to the fact that a) there are no Jewish refugees, and b) they don't have any desire to claim lands in Arab states.

"I would like to congratulate the administration for even-handedness, but in fact there are no Jewish refugees today. That's because the Jews who were expelled from Arab countries have been citizens of Israel for decades, where they live in freedom and prosperity," he said.

Precies. Israel en in mindere mate de VS en Frankrijk hebben de Joodse vluchtelingen die na Israels stichting werden verdreven of wegvluchtten uit de Arabische landen, opgevangen, voor fatsoenlijke behuizing gezorgd en ze gelijke rechten gegeven. Vluchtelingenkampen werden zo snel mogelijk opgeheven, niet in stand gehouden. Er was ook geen UNRWA die de kampen in stand hield en de integratie van de vluchtelingen in Israel (of de VS) tegenhield.

Waarom dan toch de Joodse vluchtelingen erbij halen? Simpel: zij hebben meer bezittingen verloren dan de Palestijnse vluchtelingen die vele miljarden claimen, naast natuurlijk het zogenaamde recht op terugkeer. Het feit dat ze nu geen vluchteling meer zijn komt omdat Israel zich openstelde voor hen en ze gelijke kansen en rechten gaf. Het is niet Israels schuld dat de Arabische staten, maar ook de PLO, dat  niet deden met de Palestijnse vluchtelingen en ze integendeel als een wapen tegen Israel gebruiken.

 

Tot nu toe willen de Arabische staten niks weten van de Joodse vluchtelingen, en weigert men enige morele schuld of verantwoordelijkheid op zich te nemen. Ook mogen Joden die uit Arabische landen zijn gevlucht deze landen vaak niet eens bezoeken. In tegenstelling tot de Palestijnse vluchtelingen begonnen de Joden in Egypte, Irak of Libië geen oorlog tegen de machthebbers. Zij leefden (vaak al eeuwenlang) vreedzaam in deze landen en pasten zich aan aan de cultuur. Zij accepteerden de vaak vernederende maatregelen tegen hen zoals extra belastingen of beperkingen in de beroepen die ze mochten uitoefenen.

Het wordt tijd dat we in het westen eens gaan zien dat er nog een andere vluchtelingengroep was, en dat morele erkenning en enige compensatie op zijn plaats zijn.

 

RP

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White House: Jewish "refugees" right of return should be "on the table"

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/24/white_house_jewish_refugees_right_of_return_should_be_on_the_table

Posted By Josh Rogin 

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 4:43 PM   

The right of Jews to return to the Arab and predominantly Muslim countries they fled from or were kicked out of over several decades could be "on the table" as part of the Middle East peace negotiations, according to a senior White House official.

Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor for communications and President Barack Obama's chief speechwriter on foreign policy, talked about what's known as the "Jewish right of return" during an off-the-record conference call with Jewish community leaders on May 20, only one day after Obama's major speech on the Middle East. A recording of the call was provided to The Cable.

In response to a question asking why there is a great deal of focus on the Palestinian refugee issue but almost no focus on the Jews who departed Arab lands, Rhodes declared that the Israelis and Palestinians should negotiate on the Jewish right of return to Arab and Muslim countries and that the United States could play in role in mediating that issue.

Here's the full exchange:

"While Palestinian refugees have concerns that are understandable and need to be dealt with in the peace process, there was no reference in the president's speech to the approximately one million Jewish refugees that emerged from the same Middle East conflict. I'm talking about Jews from Arab and Muslim countries who were forced out of their homelands where they had lived for centuries," said B'nai B'rith International Director of Legislative Affairs Eric Fusfield.

"The international community has never acknowledged their rights and their grievances," Fusfield continued, "[C]an the U.S., as the peace process move forward, play a role in advancing the rights and concerns of these Jewish refugee groups and help ensure that as refugee issues are dealt with... that the focus will not just be on one refugee group but on all refugee groups emerging from the same conflict?"

Rhodes responded: "Certainly the U.S., in our role, is attuned to all the concerns on both sides to include interests among Israel and others in Jewish refugees, so it is something that would come up in the context of negotiations. And certainly, we believe that ultimately the parties themselves should negotiate this. We can introduce ideas, we can introduce parameters for potential negotiation."

"We believe those types of issues that you alluded to could certainly be a part of that discussion and put on the table and it's something that we would obviously be involved in."

The issue of refugees can be a confusing one. GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain said on May 21 that the Palestinian refugees' right of return was "something that should be negotiated." Cain later admitted that he didn't fully understand the issue.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the argument that Palestinian refugees have the right of return to Israel in his Tuesday speech before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

"[T]he Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel," he said. "You know, everybody knows this. It's time to say it. It's important."

But neither Obama nor Netanyahu mentioned the Jewish right of return in any of their speeches or remarks over the past few days.

Noah Pollak, the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, said that the Jewish right of return is actually not an issue that's part of the peace negotiations, largely due to the fact that a) there are no Jewish refugees, and b) they don't have any desire to claim lands in Arab states.

"I would like to congratulate the administration for even-handedness, but in fact there are no Jewish refugees today. That's because the Jews who were expelled from Arab countries have been citizens of Israel for decades, where they live in freedom and prosperity," he said.